Not by Choice! Not my Choice! – Jeremiah 1:4-10

I chose to use a passage from Jeremiah and a passage from Luke 4 because the experience of Jeremiah and the call that God made on his life mirrors that of Jesus in many ways. When you read about the life of this prophet and the suffering he endured, you find not a person who asked for any kind of mercy from people; nor was he a person who sought to be revered.  But he was a person who – with great compassion and empathy – spoke the words which God gave him.  His task was to call the people to return to their God.   And nothing swayed him from that task. And when we reflect on the life of Jesus, we also discover a person who never asked for mercy from people, nor did he seek to be revered. And we find a person whose task was to call the people to return to their God and nothing swayed him from that task.

Like Jesus, Jeremiah was destined to take the path of a prophet from before the time he was born.  God had his eye on Jeremiah and had determined that he would be the one to be God’s messenger to the people in his time. In fact Jeremiah is told by God that he was known to God from the time he was created in his mother’s womb. While he did not become aware of it until he was a young man, it became clear to Jeremiah that he was born to serve God as a prophet. Jeremiah felt that he was not educated enough or eloquent enough to take on the task but God reassured the prophet that he indeed was chosen and that no matter what God would be with him. The more we read about the call of Jeremiah and his life as a prophet, we discover that there is a common thread that binds all those whom God has chosen to be messengers for God in their time

Over and over again in the Bible, we find the record of people like Jeremiah who have been called by God to be spiritual guides, prophets, and leaders of the people. They are not the kind of people that we would imagine as leaders, but they share one thing in common. They are prepared to listen to the word of God and to serve God as faithfully as they can.  And while they will have their personal struggles - and even show weakness and fear - in the end they will do what is asked of them and help the people to rebuild and strengthen their relationship with God. Think of Moses who was called to lead the people from Egypt to the Promised Land; think of Joshua who led them across the Jordan; think of Elijah who took on the queen Jezebel and stood firm in the face of overwhelming opposition; think of Isaiah whose vision in the temple led him to answer the call of God to become God’s servant.  Each of these persons felt inadequate to answer the call of God. Each one of these persons did not presume to be a capable leader and yet each one made an impact in their time and faithfully fulfilled the task and purpose for which they were called.

When Jesus came to the synagogue in Nazareth, it is recorded by Luke that he read a passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah in which the role of the prophet is proclaimed.  And while the mission of Jesus was one that had more scope that any given to the prophets throughout history, it was essentially the same.  It was to preach good news, to proclaim release, to open eyes and to free people from oppression and restore to people hope, peace, grace and reconciliation with God.

Jesus knew that while these things would be welcomed by many, others would find these things disturbing.  For it is one thing to speak of such things when their fulfilment is in the future, but to have someone declare that the day for them to be fulfilled had come is quite another.   And while Jesus wanted nothing more than for the people to accept that this prophecy of Isaiah had come to fruition, he knew that people would always find it easier to accept change when change happened somewhere else.  To that end he mentions other prophets like Elijah and Elisha for whom the words of God for their generation struck a chord not only with many of the people of Israel, but people outside of the nation - people with a deep faith in God.

Jesus knew the path that he had chosen to take would not be an easy one. He knew that miracles of healing of the body would not mean anything without the miracle of the healing of the spirit. But while many people were excited to be healed in their bodies, they were often not as excited about a spiritual healing. Strange isn’t it how when a message requires a change in our spirit or heart, we often resist that change.  And so the prophet finds a cold reception in his or her own country.

But a true prophet will never give up.  The true prophet will hold fast to the message he or she has been entrusted with and will proclaim that message to the best of their ability no matter what.  That kind of tenacity takes courage and strength.  Those are the very qualities exhibited by the different prophets over the centuries and most excellently exhibited by God in Jesus Christ.

Each one was chosen to be a messenger of God in their time but not one of them would have dared to choose that role for themselves! It was not their choice; it was God’s choice of them, and they honoured that choice with the strength, wisdom, and compassion that they received from him.

St. Augustine said that if you can do anything but pastoral ministry, do it.  While I quote this because it is applicable to many of us who have been called to serve today, that statement applies just as well to any of the prophets and to Jesus. Augustine said this not to discourage people from seeking to serve but rather to encourage them to be very sure that their motives for serving came from a place of genuine servanthood. For the prophets in their time and especially for Jesus in his time, the motive to serve came not from a desire to be seen as great but from a place of genuine servanthood. Whatever end their life may have had, the prophets never lost sight of this one fact: they needed to ever listen for the leading of the Holy Spirit and let God direct their path.

Amen